England's Lark Davies puts Welsh family ties aside amid bid for 'special legacy'
National allegiance will be temporarily suspended amongst Lark Davies’ relatives when England step up their pursuit of a fourth successive Tik Tok Women’s Six Nations title.
The Red Roses play their first home game of 2022 when they host Wales in front of a 12,000 crowd at Kingsholm on Saturday with one team poised to lose their perfect start to the tournament.
But while the Anglo-Welsh rivalry will burn as fiercely as ever on the pitch, Davies’ nearest and dearest will come out in full support of the Loughborough Lightning hooker as family loyalty trumps patriotic ties for one weekend only.
“My mum’s side are all Welsh and then my dad’s family go back to being Welsh too,” Davies told the PA news agency.
“But a lot of our family members will definitely be supporting England because that’s where their alliances lie!
“My mum and my sister would probably call themselves Welsh, but not when it comes to women’s rugby.
“My eldest sister swam for Wales and she still lives in Wales. My 92-year-old granny lives in Wales too.
“She gets a bit confused sometimes in terms of what team I’m playing for so I have to remind her – ‘I’m definitely English granny!’. They will all definitely be supporting us on Saturday.”
England are aiming to record a 21st successive victory in a sequence that includes two victories over world champions New Zealand.
In two rounds of the Six Nations they have amassed 21 tries and history points to a third victory being delivered in Gloucester against resurgent opponents who this year moved 12 players on to professional contracts for the first time.
England have not lost to their Celtic rivals since 2015, yet Davies insists her team-mates feel a responsibility beyond delivering results.
“The winning run is unbelievable and we don’t want to take a backwards step. I don’t see it as a burden at all. If anything it’s a challenge because we want to leave behind a special legacy of the team that we are,” she said.
“We want to inspire younger generations. We want people to watch the rugby we’re playing and talk about the Red Roses.
“We want to be a team that’s remembered not just for the results, but for the people that we are too.
“I come from a teaching background so if I get messages from parents of the children that I used to teach saying they tuned in to watch at the weekend, then that’s what it’s all about.”
While still early days, Wales’ move to professional contracts appears to have been reflected in their bonus-point victories over Ireland and Scotland.
Lark appreciates the value of being able to give up the day job after her decision to reduce her hours as a primary school teacher in Worcester ultimately led to being recruited full-time by England in 2019.
“I actually made the decision a year before getting a contract to go part time with teaching. I knew that I wanted to put more into rugby and give my all to it,” Davies said.
“Being a teacher as well as a rugby player was really difficult. I probably wasn’t getting a lot of sleep and I was rushing around, doing gym sessions and making sure I’d done the marking.
“Going part time was really difficult because there’s the financial impact of that, but it gave me more time to train, recover and do my analysis. After that was when I started to get capped more regularly.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
3 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
10 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
40 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
10 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
40 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
3 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
40 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
51 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
40 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
40 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
40 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
40 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to comments